Nothing But Trouble Bobo Mask Restoration and Display

ll restored and displayed screen used Nothing But Trouble Bobo mask worn by Dan Aykroyd in the cult classic film.

This Nothing But Trouble Bobo mask arrived in our NY studio with several areas of missing material, as well as some drying and cracking foam latex typical of an aging movie prop. Our first order of business was to clean and seal the entire mask to help the already fragile foam better hold up over time and better accept repairs. We moved on to recreating the missing material. We try to limit the amount of new material that we introduce but after discussions with our client, we created a plan to rebuild some of the larger missing sections in the neck in order to strengthen the fragile original foam that remained.

For all areas we patched, we carefully filled in missing material and then created texture to match the movie prop mask’s original sculpture and surface. With the skin blended, we carefully painted only those areas we repaired with an aged look to create a virtually seamless finish. This meant making sure that that our patches matched the aging foam and Bobo’s production painted soot covered skin, which was easier said than done! A custom blend of hair was hand applied to recreate the missing tiny tuft atop his head, which was then styled to match Aykroyd’s monstrous makeup’s on screen hairdo.

When it came to a display and base our client wanted a custom acrylic case, which we always recommend to help protect delicate film props. A custom metal plaque was designed by Melissa using some of the film’s artwork. We wanted to keep his display fairly simple but with a little added touch of Trouble. Since Bobo and his twin brother L’il Debbull work in the junkyard in the film, we suggested using a faux distressed hub cap for his display base. This just goes to show that a display can be themed without being over the top and help enhance the display of an original prop without overpowering it!